Cabinet door with interchangeable removable panel

ABSTRACT

A cabinet door for furniture composed of a supporting frame and a removable panel, which is provided with a back side designed to be disposed against the supporting frame, and a front side.

The present patent application for industrial invention relates to acabinet door with interchangeable panel.

The cabinet door of the invention has been devised to boost thefurniture sector that, in spite of the continuous evolution of design,has always been standardized on consolidated solutions.

In fact, said cabinet door has been devised to satisfy the requirementsof inconstant customers who want to change interior decorationfrequently in order to get the feeling that they live in a differentspace.

In order to satisfy such a need they are currently forced to changetheir furniture either completely or partially, with high costs,considerable inconveniences and significant discomfort.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a new type of cabinetdoor able to solve the aforementioned inconvenience.

The cabinet door of the invention derives from a completely new conceptthat provides for changing the aesthetic aspect of a furniture piece bychanging the most significant ornamental aspects of the furniturestructure.

More precisely, the cabinet door of the invention is composed of acovering panel removably fixed onto a supporting frame hinged on thefront of the cabinet, in such manner that the replacement of the doorwith another door having identical structure but different color orpattern revolutionizes the general look of the furniture piece.

Such a structural configuration allows to satisfy the aforementionedrequirement, without having to purchase new furniture, whenever the userwants to change the external chromatic aspect of a furniture piecewithout changing its structural configuration.

Such a result can be achieved at low cost also by owners of oldfurniture, since they simply need to buy new doors according to thepresent invention and use them to replace the existing doors.

Therefore, the cabinet door of the invention is adapted to be associatedwith a covering panel that can be interchanged with other panels havinga similar structure, which can be ordered when purchasing the furnitureor at a later time, having a different aesthetic look in terms ofdecorative-chromatic features, giving the user the possibility andpleasure to choose the panel mounted on the front of the door from timeto time.

For explanatory reasons, the description of the cabinet door of theinvention continues with reference to attached drawings, which only havean illustrative, not limitative value, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded axonometric view of the cabinet door of theinvention, wherein the supporting frame is hinged on the front of astylized furniture piece;

FIG. 2 is an axonometric view showing in detail the coupling means, inuncoupled position, used to fix the covering panel onto the supportingframe of the door;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are two axonometric views of the locking means, innon-working and working position respectively, adapted to stabilizecoupling between panel and frame of the cabinet door of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the cabinet door of the invention comprises asupporting frame (1) hinged on the front of a traditional cabinet (2),and a removable panel (3).

Said supporting frame (1) is of frame type and is composed of four metalsections (1 a) joint at right angle in the proximity of the ends.

The removable panel (3) is provided with a back side (3 a) adapted to beengaged against said supporting frame (1), and a front side (3 b)adapted to remain visible also when the door is closed, touching thefront border (2 a) of the cabinet (2).

Said panel (3) and frame (1) are provided with coupling meansrespectively provided on the back side (3 a) of the removable panel (3)and the front side of the frame (1), consisting in one or more pins(4,40) and corresponding housings (6,60).

On the back side (3 a) of the removable panel (3) two or more pins (4)with enlarged head (4 a) are provided, which can be made in one piecewith the panel (3)—in case said panel is obtained from molding plasticmaterials—or obtained in plates (5) fixed on the back of the panel (3),as shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the front side (1 b) of the frame (1), thatis the side adapted to be interfaced with the back side (3 a) of theremovable panel (3), is provided with a set of housings (6), wherein theenlarged heads (4 a) of said pins (4) are inserted.

More precisely, said housings (6) consist in holes disposed in suchmanner that when the removable panel (3) is stopped against the frontside (1 b) of said frame (1), each enlarged head (4 a) completely entersthe hole (6) acting as housing for the entire pin (4).

As shown in FIG. 2, each hole (6) has a keyhole configuration with “eye”(6 b) from which a vertical slot (6 a) branches off in lower verticaldirection, being provided with suitable width to allow sliding of pin(4) only, and not of enlarged head (4 a).

Because of the presence of such a hole, after completely inserting thepin (4) inside said hole (6), the removal of the panel (3) from theframe (1) can be simply prevented by translating the panel (3)downwards, thus making each pin (4) slide downwards inside the verticalslot (6 a) of the hole (6).

Obviously, the stable coupling between each pin (4) and thecorresponding hole (6) is guaranteed by the weight of the panel (3),which needs to be raised and moved away from the frame (1) in order tobe removed.

Now referring to FIG. 3, said frame (1) preferably comprises, incorrespondence of the upper side, a housing (60) adapted to house acorresponding pin (40) and containing locking means (7) adapted to stopthe pin (40) inserted into the housing (60) when the pin (40) completesthe insertion travel.

According to the preferred embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, saidlocking means (7) are contained inside a box-shaped plate (70) thatincorporates the housing (60) and is situated in one of the metalsections (1 a) of the frame (1).

More precisely, said locking means consist in a striker (7) that canhave two positions, a first non-working position in which it does notprevent the insertion or removal of the pin (40) inside the housing(60), and a second working position in which it interferes with said pin(60) to prevent removal.

As shown in FIG. 3, said striker (7) oscillates around a pin withhorizontal axis (7 a) and is provided with end (7 b) for actuationprotruding from the frame (1) when the striker (7) is in non-workingposition, whereas it is disposed flush with the frame (1) when thestriker (7) is in working position.

Referring to FIG. 4, when the striker (7) is in working position, withend (7 b) flush with the frame (1), a small space (8) is formed,allowing to hold and raise the end (7 b) when bringing the striker (7)from working to non-working position.

Finally, it must be noted that said coupling means also act as centeringmeans, and that several embodiments may be devised by an expert of theart who might use a series of pairs of magnets as coupling and centeringmeans, one magnet being disposed on the frame (1) and the other magnetbeing disposed on the back of the panel (3).

1. Cabinet door composed of a supporting frame and a removable panel,provided with a back side designed to be disposed against saidsupporting frame, and front side.
 2. Door as claimed in claim 1, whereinsaid supporting frame comprises a frame composed of four metal sectionsjoined at the ends.
 3. Door as claimed in claim 1, wherein said paneland frame are provided with coupling means respectively on the back sideof the removable panel and on the front side of the frame.
 4. Door asclaimed in claim 3, wherein said coupling means comprises two or morepins and corresponding housings.
 5. Door as claimed in claim 4, whereineach pin is provided with an enlarged head and each hole has a keyholeconfiguration with “eye” from which a vertical slot branches off inlower vertical direction, being provided with suitable width to allowsliding of pin only, and not of enlarged head.
 6. Door as claimed inclaim 4, wherein said frame comprises at least one housing adapted toreceive a corresponding pin and locking means near the housing to stopsaid pin inserted into the housing when said pin has completed theinsertion travel.
 7. Door as claimed in claim 6, wherein said lockingmeans comprises a striker having two positions, a first non-workingposition in which it does not prevent the insertion or removal of thepin inside the housing, and a second working position in which itinterferes with said pin to prevent removal.
 8. Door as claimed in claim7, wherein said striker oscillates around a pin with horizontal axis andis provided with end for actuation protruding from the frame when thestriker is in non-working position, whereas it is disposed flush withthe frame when the striker is in working position.
 9. Door as claimed inclaim 6, wherein said locking means are contained inside a box-shapedplate that incorporates the housing and is situated in one of the metalsections of the frame.
 10. Door as claimed in claim 4, wherein the pinsare obtained in one piece with the removable part and protrude from itsback side.
 11. Door as claimed in claim 4, wherein each pin is obtainedin one piece with plates fixed on the back side of the removable panel.